Originally posted by John Luzaich Best books for reading about method acting are: "A Players Place" by David Garfield ( a story of the actors studio). Garfield was a teacher at the Strasberg Institute and he wrote a great book.  another good one is "On Method Acting" by Ed Easty.  Also, "Method or Madness" by Robert Lewis.  A great book by Uta Hagen is "Respect for Acting".  George Henry Lewes wrote "Actors on Acting".  After an understanding of the method, then go back to the source, Stanislavski.  Great books by Konstantine Stanislavski include: "An Actor Prepares", "Bulding a Character", and "My Life in Art".   John

ok, obviously you have to know what and why you're doing, but I have rarely felt like I needed to invent a backstory reaching all the way back to my characters toddler days in order to do that, if you do and you keep it relatively to yourself, more power to you, but I'm of the opinion that "method acting" is widely misused as a crutch in place of confidence in your choices as an actor.